Global Traffic Congestion at All Time High*  But Shocking Differences between Continents

Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 21 February 2017 TomTom (TOM2) today released the results of the TomTom Traffic Index 2017, the annual report detailing the cities around the world with the most traffic congestion. Mexico City once again takes the top spot with drivers in the Mexican capital expecting to spend an average of 66% extra travel time stuck in traffic anytime of the day (7% percentage points up on last year), and up to 101% in the evening peak periods versus a free flow, or uncongested, situation – adding up to 227** hours of extra travel time per year.

Next in the global rankings are Bangkok (61%), Jakarta (58%), Chongqing (52%) and Bucharest (50%), making up the top five most congested cities in the world.

Ranking of the most congested cities Globally in 2016 (Overall daily congestion level – extra travel time – population over 800,000):

1

Mexico City

66%

6

Istanbul

49%

2

Bangkok

61%

7

Chengdu

47%

3

Jakarta

58%

8

Rio de Janeiro

47%

4

Chongqing

52%

9

Tainan

46%

5

Bucharest

50%

10

Beijing

46%

Using data from 2016, the TomTom Traffic Index looks at the traffic congestion situation in 390 cities in 48 countries on six continents – from Rome to Rio, Singapore to San Francisco. TomTom works with nearly 19 trillion data points that have been accumulated over nine years. This is the sixth year of the TomTom Traffic Index.

In Europe, Bucharest (50%) knocked Moscow (44%) off last year’s top spot, with Saint Petersburg (41%), London (40%) and Marseille (40%) making up the top five.

North America’s top five most congested cities remained the same as the previous year – Mexico City (66%), Los Angeles (45%), San Francisco (39%), Vancouver (39%), New York (35%) – although congestion levels were up across the board.

Congestion Up, Globally

Looking at TomTom’s historical data, traffic congestion is up by 23% globally since 2008. But, interestingly, there are shocking differences between continents. Between 2015 and 2016, while North America’s traffic congestion has only increased by 5%, Europe’s has increased by 9%. Asia and Oceania are both up by 12%, while South America is up 7%, and Africa, by 15%. That’s a global rise of 10% on 2015.

Ralf-Peter Schaefer, VP TomTom Traffic, said: “TomTom’s mission is to transform mobility across the world, helping to create the smarter cities of the future. A big part of this transformation is to help everyday drivers to make better decisions about how they get around. This is where our expertise in traffic comes in, and it’s why we release the TomTom Traffic Index every year. It’s designed to help drivers, cities and transport planners to understand traffic congestion and, most importantly, how to reduce it.”

People can find out more about the TomTom Traffic Index, and discover where their home city ranks at www.tomtom.com/trafficindex. There’s also helpful advice on beating traffic congestion. For the first time, this year, TomTom is celebrating those cities that deserve special recognition for their efforts to beat traffic congestion with the introduction of the TomTom Traffic Index awards.

Six cities have been chosen for special recognition by an international panel of traffic experts. Each expert nominated three cities and subsequently all experts voted to determine the award winning cities from the nominated cities. Winners include Moscow, Stockholm and Rio de Janeiro. The full list of winners can be found here: www.tomtom.com/trafficindex/awards.

Ranking of the most congested cities in Europe in 2016 (Overall daily congestion level – extra travel time – population over 800,000):

1

Bucharest

50%

6

Rome

40%

2

Moscow

44%

7

Paris

38%

3

Saint-Petersburg

41%

8

Brussels

38%

4

London

40%

9

Manchester

38%

5

Marseille

40%

10

Athens

37%

Ranking of the most congested cities in North America in 2016 (Overall daily congestion level – extra travel time – population over 800,000):

1

Mexico City

66%

6

Seattle

34%

2

Los Angeles

45%

7

San Jose

32%

3

San Francisco

39%

8

Toronto

30%

4

Vancouver

39%

9

Miami

30%

5

New York

35%

10

Portland

29%

Ranking of the most congested cities in South America in 2016 (Overall daily congestion level – extra travel time – population over 800,000):

1

Rio de Janeiro

47%

6

Fortaleza

35%

2

Santiago

43%

7

Sao Paulo

30%

3

Buenos Aires

42%

8

Belo Horizonte

27%

4

Salvador

40%

9

Porto Alegre

25%

5

Recife

37%

10

Brasilia

20%

Ranking of the most congested cities in Asia in 2016 (Overall daily congestion level – extra travel time – population over 800,000):